Paige knocks on the already open door to Severus' supply closet near his classroom. He looks down at Paige from the ladder he was standing on.
"Captain Asher, what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" He asks her, as she moves to the bottom of the ladder.
"I thought I would come by and discuss details of the second task with you, if you weren't too busy." Paige replies as Severus starts climbing down the ladder.
He gets to the bottom and turns to face her.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do right now?" He asks her, stepping even closer to her.
"What were you thinking?" Paige asks, her body slightly trembling as he lightly touches her arm with his cold hand.
"I was thinking of all the things I would do to you right now if you were recovered enough." He says to her, his lips hovering over her neck
He suddenly pulls away from her and walks past her out of the room. Paige couldn't stop her desire of him. Injured or not, she craves him and needs to have him now.
"Severus." She whispers.
He stops at the doorway, his back still to her. She walks up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist, her hands slowly moving down to his crotch.
"Please." She says as she rests her head on his back.
He turns around and grabs her hands, he pushes her back against the standing ladder he was just on, his lips finding her neck. She didn't care that it hurt, only that she was getting what she really wants. The both stop freeze when they hear a door close in the distance.
"Not here." He whispers before kissing her again.
He grabs her hand and pulls her away from the ladder. He makes sure no one was in the hallways before leading her down the hall and stopping at a large oak door. He doubles checks the hallways before un locking the door with his wand. He lets her get into the room first then he follows her inside the dark room. As he closes the door, Paige is left in pitch darkness, only hearing the lock engage on the door. She waits for the lights to come on, but is left waiting.
She was about to turn around when she feels him behind her. He runs his hands up her waist and to her chest, ripping the front of her shirt opening, popping off the buttons on her blouse. She gasps as he bites lightly into her neck. He could feel his hands slide down from her chest, down to her stomach to the front of her pants. She feels them unbutton and then slide down her legs She takes off her shoes and kicks them and her pants somewhere into the darkness. She closes her eyes and his lips find hers. She could suddenly hear the sound of a fire crackling and flickers of light though her closed eyes. She didn't even bother looking where she was, her target was right in front of her.
He picks her up, wrapping her legs around his waist and he brings her over to the bed that was there. She feels the cool silk sheets on her exposed skin as he lays her down. Paige grabs the back of his neck, kissing him more deeply as he removes the rest of her shirt, leaving her in only her bra and underwear. She moves her hands to start unbuttoning his pants, as he starts to move to her neck again. He stops. Paige notices that he's stopped and sees what he's looking at. She looks down at herself and could see all the scratches and bruises that were left from the bomb attack.
"It looks worse then it actually is. Honestly, I've been in worse shape before." Paige says, finally managing to unbutton his pants.
He stops her.
"I think we need to make some compromises." He says, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"What are you saying?" Paige asks concerning as she sits up.
"Don't worry, I'll still give you what you want." He says to her, as he slowly climbs on top of her, pushing her back into the bed.
Paige moans softly as he slowly places his lips on her neck. Every movement he was making was slow and deliberate. The anticipation was making her want him more and more by each article of clothing he would slowly remove off of her. He kisses her passionately as he slowly un-does his own robes, not letting her help him because of her excitement and urgency to get them off of him.
Finally, both of them without clothes, he slowly moves his hands up her legs, and positions himself between her thighs. He looks into her eyes before kissing her again and slowly sliding his dick inside her. She moans as her lips stay on his as he slowly thrusts into her. She was locked in his slow tempo, not allowing her to go any faster. She slowly runs her hands up his chest, and up his shoulders, resting them when she reaches his back. She wasn't used to giving up so much control, but there was something about him that made her unable to resist him. She inhales deeply as she starts getting close. Her body tenses around him as he slowly keeps thrusting into her. She climaxes and he continues thrusting. Her body so sensitive and tingling, but it still feeling good. She kisses his neck as he continues slowly thrusting in her. He moves his head to her shoulder as his body goes rigid. She could hear him murmur something but she couldn't hear what it was because it was her right side with the hearing loss.
Even after they both finished, he remains inside her, kissing her passionately. Paige just wants to stay in this moment forever.
It was about midnight. Paige was fast asleep on Severus' chest, still in his bed. There is suddenly a loud knocking on the door that woke them both up.
"Severus, I need to have a word with you. Open the door! I know you're in there." A man's voice says from the other side.
Paige quickly wraps the sheet around herself and climbs under the bed, while Severus throws on his clothes. He opens the door as Paige watches from underneath the bed.
"What do you want Karkaroff?" Severus asks in an annoyed tone.
Paige watches as he pushes his way into Severus' room. Severus closes the door behind him.
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed the Dark Mark getting darker Severus." Karkaroff says in a hushed tone.
"I have noticed." He replies casually.
"And? Aren't you terrified of his return and being labeled a traitor of the Dark Lord?" Karkaroff asks him.
Paige's eyes go wide when she notices her bra, right out in the open a few feet away from them. She looks up at Karkaroff, to see where his gaze was before slowly reaching her hand out from under the bed.
"If you want to flee, do so. I am no coward." Severus replies.
"You may not be a coward, but you're a fool. And you'll be a dead fool when his loyal minions hunt you down." He says to him.
Paige manages to grab hold of her bra and slowly starts to pull it back towards her under the bed as she constantly looks up at Karkaroff to see where his gaze is.
"I'm done with this conversation Karkaroff. Now leave, it's the middle of the night." Severus says, walking towards the door and opening it for him.
Paige quickly pulls the rest of her arm the rest of the way under the bed. Karkaroff's head quickly looks over to where Paige just grabbed her bra. She holds her breath and prays he didn't see her.
"I'll take my leave then Severus." He says coldly to him.
She watches his feet move, and walk out of the room. She exhales in relief as Severus closes the door behind him. Paige crawls up from under the bed and starts collecting her clothing from the floor.
"I don't think he will be back tonight; you can stay if you want." Severus says to get as she starts putting on her pants.
"It's too risky. We can't be caught, or I'd get fired." She replies to him as she buttons up her pants.
She stops and looks at him.
"Do I need to be worried about you?" She asks him.
"Worried for what reason?" He asks her.
"Like do you need a body guard against Death Eaters? Because if you do, I'm your girl." She says with a wink as she throws her cloak over her shoulders.
"I have arrangement with Dumbledore." He replies.
"What sort of arrangements?" she asks, raising her eyebrow.
He looks at her for a moment, not saying anything.
"Oh, secret arrangements." Paige says, catching on to him not wanting to disclose that information to her. "That's fine. As long as Dumbledore knows the plan I suppose."
Paige starts putting on her boots.
"Do you enjoy your job?" He asks her, changing the subject.
"Yeah, its great. I feel like I'm actually making a small difference out there." Paige replies to him.
"Didn't Colonel Andrews mention a new position waiting for you back in the States?" he asks as he moves towards the door.
"Yes, that's correct. I would become a Major and join the Department of Aurors." Paige says, moving towards him. "The youngest ever to join."
Severus opens the door and checks the hallway.
"Quiet the accomplishment. I'm surprised you weren't jumping on the chance to be sent home." He comments to her. "Seems like Colonel Andrews would have done anything to have you back."
Paige thought about his statement for a moment.
"I guess I figure there isn't a huge rush going back. The position will still be waiting for me whenever I return." She says as she walks closer to the door.
As she walks out of the room, Severus moves to stand in the doorway. She turns around to face him. He looks at her, the look of something conflicting inside him.
"Is something wrong?" Paige asks him.
He snaps back from his thoughts.
"No, nothing. Goodnight Captain Asher." He says to her.
"Goodnight." She replies quietly.
She leaves and heads back up the stairs to the main floor of the school. Her thoughts lingering back to the conversation with Severus and Karkaroff and the Dark Mark growing darker. She remembers looking at Severus Dark Mark early and didn't really register with her that it was darker.
"Where's you head at if he does return?" Otakemaru asks Paige as she reaches outside and starts walking towards Hogsmeade.
"What do you mean? I would fight." Paige replies to him with a bit of a scoff.
"What if the Senate doesn't believe he's back? What if they don't believe Dumbledore?" He asks her.
"They would believe it." Paige says confidently.
"Let's hope so." He replies.
By the time the second task came around, the snow had already melted on the school grounds, but the air was still brisk.
Paige was feeling almost back to normal self except the mild hearing loss in her right ear and some light bruising still visible. With the rest of the team back, they were ready to go back to their normal routine.
As the Champions participate in the second task, Paige and her team are out patrolling around the lake as per Dumbledore's orders to be more visible.
"I think they're just waiting for one more Champion to return." Paige hears Ripley say over the earpiece.
"Okay, I want us patrolling until everyone has cleared away form the stands around the lake." Paige replies.
Paige could hear the crowd erupt into cheering and a loud booming voice speaking over the crowd announcing that the final champion as completed the task. Paige watches as the crowd starts to disperse back to the school. A lot of the crowd was still hanging back for some reason, so Paige decides to keep an eye on them.
After about ten minutes the rest of the crowd starts to move towards the castle.
"Let's get status checks from everyone" Paige says as she moves closer to the stands.
"Ripley good, west side of the lake, near the crowd."
"Yankis good, North by the forest."
"Hernandez good, east side of the castle."
There was a pause as Paige waits for Bobcat to respond.
"Bobcat, status check." She says after waiting a few seconds for him.
Nothing.
"Anyone know where Bobcat was last?" Paige asks as she moves quickly towards the school.
"I saw him around the Forbidden Forest about ten minutes ago." Yankis replies.
"Hernandez and Yankis, you two are the closest to Bobcat's location. Go check on him. Ripley and I go near the school watch the crowd as they move. Be careful and be on high alert." Paige instructs, getting closer to the school.
As she approaches the school with crowds of people still leaving the lake, she spots Ripley running towards her.
"Watch for anything suspicious." Paige says and they start walking in the opposite direction of the crowd.
Captain, I'm ready to enter the forest." Yankis says over the earpiece.
"Don't go in alone, wait for Hernandez." She tells him. "Hernandez, how far out are you?"
'I'm about two minutes away." He says out of breath, like he was running.
"Wait for Hernandez and roll out together when you're both ready." She instructs them.
Ripley nudges Paige with his elbow to get her attention.
"Do you think it's another bomb?" He asks her.
"Keep your voice down, we don't need to spook anyone." Paige says to him in a hushed tone.
Paige watches the people as they cheerfully walk back up to the school, discussing the results of the second task.
"I'm with Yankis, We're ready to roll out." Hernandez says over the earpiece.
"Affirm. Good to roll out." Paige says.
Ripley glances uneasily at Paige. She knows he was worried about Hernandez getting hurt. She grabs his hand and holds it tightly for a moment before turning her attention back to the crowd.
"We have eyes on Bobcat. He's okay, but he was stunned." Hernandez says to Paige.
"Any idea who did it?" Paige asks him.
"Break. Captain you need to get over here ASAP. We have a dead body." Yankis says, interrupting Paige and Hernandez.
Paige looks at Ripley who looks just as shocked as she feels. They both begin running towards the Forbidden Forest.
As they approach they see the an Older, gruff looking man with a mechanical eye and a wooden leg standing over a body laying in the grass. His eyes closely watching both Paige and Ripley as they approach. She walks over to her team who were sitting with Bobcat.
"Captain, I got hit from behind out of no where." Bobcat says to her as she approaches him.
"You're okay though. You're not injured." She asks as she checks him over.
"I'm good Captain." He replies.
"You don't remember seeing anything?" Paige asks him, looking over at the gruff man and the dead body.
"No, Nothing. I was patrolling and then BAM. Knocked out." He informs her.
"So you don't know where that guy came from or who killed him?" She asks him.
"No. No idea. I didn't hear anything; I didn't see anything." He explains.
"Looks like the target was that guy." Ripley adds, nodding his head over towards the dead body.
"Anyone else hurt?" Bobcat asks concerning.
"No, everything was good over by the stadium." Paige replies to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"That guy doesn't look like a Professor or a Student, so who the hell is he?" Hernandez asks, referring to the dead guy.
"Something doesn't make sense." Paige thinks out loud.
"Maybe it will when we find out who the dead guy is." Yankis replies to her.
Paige and Ripley wait outside the statue leading up to Dumbledore's office for two hours as Dumbledore has a meeting the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, in private.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Ripley whispers to Paige.
"Who knows." Paige replies staring at the wall ahead of her, thinking back to the events of the second task.
"Can you imagine the shit show that would have happened if something happened to Bobcat?" He asks her.
"It might still become a shit show." Paige replies.
Paige shuts her eyes. She was trying not to think of what would have happened if they decided to kill Bobcat instead of just stunning him, her memory going back to Miller and Locksley's funeral. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the statue beside them moving. Dumbledore and Fudge both walk out.
"I'll be in touch Dumbledore." Fudge says to him as he looks over at Paige and Ripley.
The look on Fudge's face made Paige believe that his meeting with Dumbledore didn't go well.
"You know how to reach me." Dumbledore says with a faint smile.
Fudge walks away briskly without another word.
"Captain, Lieutenant. Sorry to keep you both waiting." Dumbledore says to them, sounding exhausted.
"If you're too tired sir, we can have this meeting another time." Paige says to him in concern.
"It's fine. I just have a lot on my mind." He comments as he removes his half-moon spectacles from his face and starts to clean them on his robes.
"Sir, Bobcat is fine. We can have a meeting tomorrow." Paige insists.
"No, you guys waited here for so long. We can have a discussion." Dumbledore says with a sigh as he puts his glasses back on his face and turns to walk back up the stairs to his office.
"Professor Dumbledore." Paige says, stopping him.
He slowly turns around to look at Paige, a look of curiosity on his face.
"I insist. This can wait for tomorrow." Paige says sternly.
Dumbledore starts walking closer towards Paige.
"It's remarkable." He comments, stopping in front of her and looking into her eyes.
"What is?" Paige asks him in confusion.
"The difference between Colonel Andrews and yourself." Dumbledore responds.
"She better looking, that's a fact, and I don't even find girls attractive." Ripley says with a smirk.
"I don't understand." Paige says to Dumbledore, ignoring Ripley's comment.
"You possess traits he could never imagine possessing. You have compassion and empathy, you have a heart and care about your team and other people whole-heartily without thinking about yourself. You're self-less. I just hope following in such footsteps as Colonel Andrews and many others just like him doesn't take you down a dark path that changes who you are." Dumbledore says to her, staring intently into Paige's eyes.
Paige couldn't say anything. She was trying to process what he was telling her.
"I just got word that Colonel Andrews will be here tomorrow. I see the way he talks to you and your team in comparison to how you treat them. Who do uou want to be Captain Asher?" He asks her.
Paige thought about being here and how's she's realizes how tired she was of always having to be strong and hide her weakness. Tired of having to hold in everything all the time and for who? People above her who just want to play her like she's a chess piece on a board. That is all she is and will ever be to these people. Ever since being here she hasn't put a single thought into her promotion waiting for her, and for good reason. She wasn't happy there. She did her job and did it well, but it wasn't making her happy. Being here made her happy. Paige could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes as she realizes what made her so happy here.
"There's doing something because it's easy, then there's doing something because it's right." Dumbledore adds.
Paige knew in that moment what she would have to do if the time came.
"If anything happens Dumbledore. Just know I will do anything and everything you ask of me. I would give away everything I have if you asked me. Just say the word. I will leave everything behind and be here to help in any capacity. I owe you more than just my life and I trust you and your judgement more than I have ever trusted anything in my life." Paige tells him confidently.
He suddenly wraps his arms around her and pulls her into a hug.
"Love is truly powerful." He says, hugging her tighter.
She could feel the tears escaping her eyes this time. There was no pushing them down.
"He's lucky to have yours." Dumbledore whispers to her low enough for only her to hear it.
Paige unleashes her emotions as more tears start to fall down from her eyes, unable to handle all the emotions she was feeling in that moment.
"I've known you for ten years Paige, and I've never seen you cry before. You want to tell me that the hell is going on?" Ripley asks her as they make their way back to Hogsmeade after her emotional moment with Dumbledore.
Paige says nothing. Her head somewhere else.
"Paige please. You're freaking me out." Ripley says grabbing her arm to get her to stop.
"Can I trust you Jack?" She asks him, looking into his pale grey eyes.
"With your life." He replies instantly.
"Would you follow me, even if it means going against the people higher up. Going against everything we've believed in." She asks him desperately.
Ripley grabs both of Paige's hands.
"I'm with you to the end Captain." He says to her with a wink.
Paige wraps her arms around him and gives him a hug.
"I don't know what this place has done to you, but I like it." Ripley says as he puts his arm around her shoulder and leads them towards Hogsmeade again.
Paige says nothing. Too exhausted from the overflow of emotions that have been hitting her in waves.